Question Number Five, and Number Six and Seven as a bonus!

I'm just barreling along here with the questions.  Hopefully, I'm not boring you guys!  I am addressing three in a row tonight, just to mix it up a bit.

The poetic Heatherl asks : Any suggestions for exercise videos?   I know I've said it here before, but I really like the TurboJam series a lot, especially the Ab work out and the body sculpting with weights. I tried the Tae-Bo, and I really liked those for quite a while.  Once I was given the TurboJam, though, they quickly became my favorites.  I've had them for over a year and still use them in heavy rotation.  I also enjoy the HIp Hop Abs.  Anyone else have suggestions?  I recently gave away most of the other dvd's that I use - I get bored quickly.  Check out Netflix or Blockbuster Online for lots of different choices.

The awesome Ashlee asks:  Sooooo, I just signed up for a half marathon. I started training today (OMG it was HARD) and I have a loooooooong way to go. What training regimen did you use? I have the couch to 5K program that I am starting with and then I'm on my own after that. Any advice?

What training regime did I use?  None.  And that probably sounds stupid, but if I committed to a regime, then that would have meant I was actually going to DO a half marathon, and there was no way out of it. I am not good at committing, you see, and always like to give myself an out.  What I did, basically, was two things.  First, I walked a lot and upped my distance that way.  I walked upwards of ten miles three days or more a week.  Then I started running bits and pieces of each mile.  I started off with one minute at a time, and then recovered.  Repeat. I slowly worked up to ten minutes.  But I was hampered by a stress fracture in my left foot, so my practice right before the race was sporadic.  I don't think I'd recommend my plan, although I'm doing it again.  ;)

Question Number Seven below the fold.

The stunning Hanna asks:  I'm a month into my workout tree, and I'm feeling down about it. My friends who are doing it with me have been nothing but supportive, and one of them has even lost a WHOLE DRESS SIZE! I have lost a measly 5 lbs in 30 days. I thought I was redesigning my life, and I am really upset that its not enough. I was so proud of myself for turning my back on brownies and McDonalds, but now I realize I'm going to have to say goodbye to the piece of pizza I allowed myself to have twice this month. I didn't think pizza twice a month would be that bad, but what if that is what is holding me up? I ranted about it today on my blog. Maybe I'm just feelin frustrated and I'll get over it.

First of all, five pounds in a month is AWESOME.  Seriously.  You put the weight on slowly, a pound at a time, right?  It's going to come off slowly as well, a pound at a time.  Redesigning your life does take time - it takes a lot of time and a lot of energy, but nothing worth doing is worth doing half way.  It is a daily choice, a daily struggle.  It's a daily decision of yes to McDonald's or no to McDonald's.  Every single day, you get to decide.   That's what's so amazing.

I will say this - when I first began, I was the biggest addict to Coca-Cola that there was on the planet.  I think I drank close to two gallons a day.  I slowly cut down, and cut down, but I always kept one in my diet, at lunchtime.  It was my reward, my treat - I felt like I was working out hard enough to allow that.  And I probably was - if I wanted to lose one pound every month.  But I didn't want to do that, and I ultimately decided to give it up and go to diet soda.  Then I looked into artificial sweeteners and stopped drinking any soda.   Sometimes, losing weight requires an iron will and sometimes you can fudge a bit.  If you want to keep those treats available to you in your food choices, then you need to exercise more.  You also need to be real about how often you are allowing those treats.  I can say all I want that I had one piece of cheese bread today.  I really had two and then a roll when I went out to dinner. 

You might find, like I did, that you have to be super strict and vigilant in the beginning.  I wasn't, and the weight didn't come off fast enough for me.  Once I was more regimented, it disappeared more quickly, and that was impetus enough for me to continue. Different bodies respond differently - some are slower to lose weight than others.  PLEASE don't compare yourself to your friends.

Move more, eat less.  That's the only equation that, ultimately, is going to get you into those skinny jeans.  Not eating cabbage soup, not taking a pill, not wrapping your body in Saran Wrap.  I promise you - it takes far more time that you think, but it WILL happen.

Comments

[amy]

Carmen I hear ya on being accountable and making the choices. I've been on WW since May and I've lost 25 lbs. But....I am not using the program. Daily I try to get into my head and figure out why. I know it works. I've got the little journal thingys to write it all down and figure out my points. I still don't do it. I know I'm making good and realistic choices most of the time but I have no idea how many points I'm actually eating a day. I'm sure it's reason for my slow down/plateau. I'm still not giving up or stopping the meetings though. I just need to figure out what my hang up is. When I last did WW and was totally committed to it I was 3lbs within my goal and found myself prgnant. But, I know the plan works when you work within the plan.
Good for you getting hooked on videos. I can't exercise in my own house. For one thing this stupid 200 yo house rocks and shakes and bops right with me. Plus it takes super human strength to rearrange all the junk to make room. I'm lucky if I clear space to do my ball workout. Hey lookey there will ya! More excuses.
No excuses this a.m. My day off and I'm heading to the gym where I'll dream it's my 'last chance' work out before my weigh in tomorrow. If only Bob or Jillian were there to spur me on

[Kendra]

I love all the info from the questions. Thanks!

[Monique]

First off, Carmen, THANK YOU for your blog!!! I have been looking for something inspirational, realistic, funny, and encouraging in this weight loss department and yours is the only one I check every day.

I just wanted to write a quick reply to our friend asking about the half-marathon. I trained for one 2 summers ago by following a schedule I found online (I used the schedule from the Royal Victoria Marathon in Victoria, B.C., Canada - link at http://www.royalvictoriamarathon.com/traininghalfgtd.php. with options for continuous running or run-walk-run). I didn't have a buddy to train with, didn't "fall in love with running," and most certainly didn't make every single run day you're supposed to on my schedule. But I still managed to finish those 21.5 kms and am going to sign up to do another in May (time to get this butt in gear!) and count it as one of my life's accomplishments.
My only regret was the empty calories I consumed by way of wine and summer BBQs that basically did not make a dent in my weight loss. While you can eat more when you're training, if you're training to help lose the weight you still need to be careful. Best of luck -- you'll be training those 17km long runs before you know it!

[mary]

2 gallons of coke a day? Dang girl!! You are lucky to have teeth left!! :) How many calories is that? Probably more than you eat all day now! Good for you!

[breckgirl]

Thanks for all of your answers - it is all helpful. I was most touched by your answer to Hannah. Don't give up, Hannah - and Carmen's tip about being super vigilant and real about what you eat is very important, especially in the beginning. I know I wasn't so vigilant in the beginning and it was too slow for me, too. Also - step up the workouts. I increased my workout time by 20 minutes in the past week and it has made a tremendous difference in my rate of loss. True weight loss does take a long time but ultimately it is worth it. I say keep the piece of pizza if it helps you feel less deprived (and less likely to go nuts or binge!) but if you are adamant about losing quickly, you may want to just cut out the treats and focus until you reach your goal. THEN you can consider adding a few treats back in here and there (as long as the exercise stays UP). That is what is working for me, anyway. And frankly, I still have an occasional treat but it is about once a month! The most important thing is to get back on track AFTER the treat. :-) Best of luck to everyone. We are doing it!

[Ashlee]

Thanks Carmen (and Monique!!). Happy exercising everyone:)

[Des]

First of all, THANKS so much for the TAE BO video! Secondly, thanks for the reminders of what I need to do, which is track everything; food, activity, water. I haven't been doing that in quite awhile, so I've hit the plateau, of course!

[Tammy]

I use the Cardio Coach series religiously, along with my elliptical. Interval training makes the time fly by, and I get a great cardio workout to boot.